


It's Been a While

by PrettyMessedUpSituation (MarcelinesNightosphere)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Army Dean, Aromantic Castiel, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, No Sex, No Smut, Old Friends, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-07
Updated: 2015-02-07
Packaged: 2018-03-10 20:55:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3303176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarcelinesNightosphere/pseuds/PrettyMessedUpSituation
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Army AU - Dean and Cas have known each other since before high school but haven't seen each other since Cas moved away before graduation. Meeting up after Dean returns from Iraq while Cas is stationed in Germany, it's good to see an old friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Been a While

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a true story. Might do another if anyone likes this - not my usual content though.

Cas hadn’t seen Dean in four years.

The noise of the train station faded to muffled background noise as he waited, hands shoved nervously in his pockets. People pushed past, working their way in and out of the train station. The shops selling soft pretzels and pommes frites were closing for the night, bars coming down and curtains drawn. An older man approached him, tall and gruff looking, and lifted his chin.

“Zigaretten?”

Cas shook his head. He pointed to the vending machine across the way. “Zigaretten. Es gibt keine Rauchen im Bahnhof.”

“Natürlich nicht,” the man grumbled. “Danke.”

“Bitte.”

There was very few things he could say in German, but from all the new No Smoking signs in train stations and bars he’d at least been able to pick that much up the short time he’d been there. His eyes scanned the thinning crowd, knowing that at any moment he would recognize a familiar face.

Cas was so excited to see his friend. A lot had happened since high school, and he honestly had never thought that he’d see Dean again. The night before Cas had moved away, Dean’s brother Sam had told him Dean was absolutely in love with him. While Cas didn’t reciprocate those feelings and doubted the love of a sixteen year old kid, it warmed his heart that Dean had talked about him with his little brother. The small connections that Cas and Dean had kept through email and then letters continued when they both joined the Army. Dean jokingly invited Cas to prom knowing that states away he wouldn’t be able to go, but Cas told him he wished he could. After that response, Cas hadn’t heard from him until they were both at their first duty stations. Dean had written him a letter from Iraq when he had first gotten there, then a more solemn letter that sounded more like a diary entry or quiet confession of emotions he’d never let show around anyone else after one of his friends was killed. Cas was about to leave to his second duty station in Germany when Dean had written that he was coming back to Italy. As soon as he returned from leave and they were on the same continent, they made plans for him to visit.

Cas checked the train schedule and it had the train arriving from Munich disembarked. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie a little deeper, shifting from foot to foot in anticipation. Then he saw him. Dean rounded the corner and a smile burst onto his face when he saw Cas. Cas reached out his hand to Dean but Dean just knocked it away, pulling him in for a hug.

“Good to see you, man. Sorry I was late,” he said, releasing Cas. “There was this old lady who was having trouble with her bag.”

Cas rolled his eyes. Of course there was. “Not much is open right now, but tomorrow night we can go out and do something,” Cas said.

“Oh, I’ve got to get a taste of that German beer,” Dean said. “And food. Europe’s making me a snob when it comes to food and drink.”

“How was leave?” Cas asked as they started walking toward the line of taxi cabs.

“Stopped by and saw Sammy and met his girlfriend. He’s in school and working at some bar in his spare time. They had a welcome home party for me and…well, it was a hell of a time,” Dean said, laughing to himself. “It was good to see him, even if it was just a few days.”

“I’m sure it was.” Cas couldn’t take his eyes off of Dean. There was so much changed about him. He still had his swagger and touch of boyishness, was still the dependable stranger, but at twenty-one he was somehow broken behind those mischievous eyes and gorgeous smile. Cas could see a wall built up behind this façade, and he worried for what Dean was dealing with behind it.

 

Cas turned the key to his barracks room and swung the door open. His closet space was along the right wall and a sink and mirror stood on the left past a closed door. He walked into the room and Dean followed, putting down his ruck sack sized backpack.

“I share a bathroom with another guy next door through that way,” he said, pointing to the door next to the one that let into this room. “I have a rollaway bed there for you.” Cas nodded to the small metal framed bed with a thin mattress blanketed with a thick plush comforter. “Want a drink?” Cas asked, opening up the fridge.

“Sure.” Cas handed him a beer and Dean nodded in thanks. He took a look around as he took sips of his beer, checking out some pictures around the desk in the corner by the fridge and surveyed the room.

Cas had set his room up simply, but with the help of some friends had acquired what the Army would equate to a small couch. It wasn’t pretty; bare and not too comfortable, it was likely older than either of them. When the soldiers in the barracks were tasked with cleaning out the storage in the attic, everyone started claiming unused furniture. This was Cas’s treasure. He had put it against the wall facing his TV, his twin bed situated perfectly lengthways between the three walls of his sleeping area.

“Pretty sweet set up you got here.”

“It’s not bad. I do like it better than the rooms in Korea,” Cas said scoffing. “There are benefits to not having a roommate.”

Dean cocked his eyebrow. “Oh, I bet.”

Cas blushed. “No, nothing like that.” Cas wasn’t about to admit how untrue that statement actually was, but Dean picked up on it immediately.

“Sure, buddy. You don’t have to tell me anything. I get it,” Dean teased, flopping down on the couch that was probably more like a loveseat, but no one was about to call that brown eyesore a cushy word like _loveseat_. “What movies you got?”

Cas pulled out a case and handed it to Dean. He flipped through the pages and picked a movie. Cas put it in and sat next to Dean, sipping his water. They watched the movie only partially, busy catching up on high school, what people who they both knew were up to, and their experiences at basic training. Then they started sharing the heavier things that were hard to talk about with anyone. Both had a rough past couple of years and were pretty damaged. Cas talked about his drinking problem he had finally gotten a slight grip on and some of the horrible personal things he’d been battling with, and Dean recounted a few rough days with IED’s and a friend being killed in graphic detail. It would have been a downright depressing conversation if it wasn’t so nice to have someone to talk to who was genuinely interested in listening without judgment. At one in the morning though, Dean looked as if he could barely keep his eyes open.

“If we’re gonna go out tomorrow night, I’m gonna have to pass out,” he said as he stood, walking toward the fridge to put his third empty beer bottle in the trash. He walked to the side of the room with windows that was opposite Cas’s bed where the rollaway waited. Kicking off his jeans, he settled in wearing a t-shirt and boxers. “Goodnight, Cas.”

“Goodnight, Dean.”

 

Cas stared at the ceiling. It was so great having Dean there. Laying alone in his bed he felt a loneliness settle over him. The distance between him and Dean felt vast, as if moving from the couch to opposite sides of the room had separated them completely. Dean might as well still be in another country. Cas finished his bottle of water and screwed the cap back on, tapping it on his hand. His phone vibrated.

_Thanks for letting me visit._

He smiled and sent a text back. _Why are you thanking me? It’s good to see you._

_Just…thanks. Good to see a friendly face. Especially yours._

_Why are you texting me? You’re ten feet away._

_Goodnight, Cas._

_Goodnight, Dean._

Cas put his phone down and started playing with his empty water bottle again. He wanted Dean to just get up and come over. It seemed stupid for him to sleep on a rollaway bed that couldn’t be comfortable when Cas could slide back against the concrete wall and make room. Not that his bed was much more comfortable, but it had to be better than four inches of mattress over wooden slats on a metal frame. Before he realized what he was doing, Cas threw his empty water bottle across the room and hit Dean.

“What the hell?” Dean whispered.

Cas’s face was hot with embarrassment and he covered his face with his hands. This was quite possibly the most juvenile thing he had ever done in his existence. Then he realized he had a line of empties on the floor beneath him. One by one, Cas started lobbing the water bottles in Dean’s direction. After seven plastic bottles had hit their mark and skittered across the floor, Dean finally reacted.

“Fucks sake Cas, how many of those things do you have over there?”

“I’m out,” Cas said quietly.

Cas’s phone vibrated.

_Do you want me to come over there?_

Cas hesitated before replying out loud. “Yes. If you _want_ to, of course.”

Dean got up off the rollaway and came over to Cas’s bed and raised his eyebrows in false annoyance. “Scoot.”

Cas moved until his back was pressed against the cool wall and lifted his comforter. Dean climbed in, rolling comfortably into his sleeping position, his back toward Cas. Cas slowly slid his arm around Dean, worried that he didn’t read the situation right and that Dean was actually annoyed with him. After thinking over the texts Dean had sent, he relaxed. He wasn’t good at understanding amorous gestures and didn’t much care for them himself, but thought this comfort of being held was something Dean would happily accept.

It was just seconds after Cas’s arm slipped over him that Dean gave Cas his answer.

“I wondered how long it was gonna take you to ask,” he whispered. Dean’s hand reached up and grabbed Cas’s, tugging it over his chest where he held it loosely. Cas’s whole body relaxed, curling against Dean. For once he wasn’t interested in sex. He was comfortable. Here was someone he’d known since they were practically kids and he could be completely comfortable around.

Dean rolled over to his back, still clutching Cas’s hand to his chest. His breathing started to get shallow, almost sounding like panic. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and it didn’t take long for his shirt to start becoming damp. Cas watched him, becoming more upset by the moment, not knowing what to do. He didn’t want to startle him awake, but didn’t like seeing him like that. Wherever Dean was, it wasn’t there with Cas. He whimpered, and Cas’s heart shattered. Dean’s face contorted as his nightmare played out, and then as quick as it came, the nightmare ended.

Cas propped up on his elbow and with his free hand pet Dean’s hair and gently reassured him as he drifted deeper into sleep. Cas wiped away the sweat on his brow, listening as Dean’s quiet snores returned and became steady. Dean rolled back over, taking Cas’s arm with him. Cas lay his head on his pillow and gripped Dean tight, feeling his heart beating a hard rhythm under his fist, Dean’s fingers interlaced with his. He realized then that this was no one-time visit. It was more than just catching up with an old friend. Dean was going to be a big part of his life, and he was going to be holding him through many more nightmares to come.


End file.
